Hydrofracking jobs overestimated by industry, report finds

7:34 PM,
Nov. 23, 2013

Written by

Jon Campbell
| Albany Bureau

A report Thursday from a labor-backed think tank in New York and groups in four other states casts doubt on the number of jobs created through Marcellus Shale gas drilling, making the case that various industry-backed estimates have been off the mark.

The study, published by a coalition called the Multi-State Shale Research Collaborative, contends that each new natural-gas well in the Marcellus formation has directly created about four new jobs from 2005 through 2012.

That's far lower than the 31 direct jobs per well used in highly cited studies by academics Timothy Considine and Robert ...